'National Puzzle Day'

With the advent of digital entertainment, some people may think that the common puzzle may be falling by the wayside.

But National Puzzle Day is the perfect chance to go back to basics: do a jigsaw puzzle, solve a crossword puzzle or buy a Rubik’s Cube!

A great way to relieve stress or be entertained, puzzles can not only be fun, but are actually good “exercise” for the brain as well. No matter how it is celebrated, National Puzzle Day can be a healthy and fun day for people of all ages!

Read more here. . . .

TOP PODCAST DONE WEEKLY

BY DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM

(UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA)  

He is a world-renowned epidemiologist who was credited with first elucidating TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME in the 1980’s.

He provides comprehensive and understandable/actionable ideas related to COVID.

Dr. Osterholm Update: COVID-19

January 26, 2023

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/episode-123-nowhere-land

(Same as last week's.... New podcast next week!)



"Nowhere Land"

In "Nowhere Land," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the state of the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world, the latest data on the XBB.1.5 subvariant, and a measles outbreak in Ohio. Dr. Osterholm also answers a COVID query about COVID deaths, provides an update on influenza and RSV, and comments on the new strain of antibiotic resistant gonorrhea that was recently detected in Massachusetts.

According to Dr. Osterholm……

• CHINA IS BEING DEVASTATED BY COVID RIGHT NOW. NEW VARIANTS WILL LIKELY ARISE AND CIRCLE BACK TO THE USA. BOOSTING REMAINS THE BEST APPROACH + MASKING.
• GOOD VENTILATION IN ROOMS/HOME/BUSINESSES IS A GREAT WAY TO PREVENT TRANSMISSION
• VACCINE, VACCINE, VACCINE…THIS IS OUR PROTECTION.  ALL VACCINES ARE EFFECTIVE AND WITH TIME WE ARE SEEING THAT THE J&J VACCINE IS PICKING UP STEAM AND GIVES SOLID LONG-TERM PROTECTION.
• BOOST, BOOST, BOOST…THIS WILL BE NECESSARY TO PREVENT RECURRING SURGE AND TO RAISE ANTIBODY LEVELS IN THOSE ALREADY SET WITH THE PRIMARY COVID VACCINE SERIES.
• ANTIGEN TESTING IS USEFUL, BUT OF LIMITED VALUE. DON’T DEPEND ON THIS TEST IF YOU HAVE CLASSIC COVID SYMPTOMS.
• MASKS OF THE KN95 AND N95 VARIETY CAN BE HELPFUL. CLOTH MASKS AND SURGICAL MASKS ARE CURRENTLY NOT AS EFFECTIVE WITH DELTA VARIANT 
• THE THREE/FOUR/FIVE VACCINE REGIMEN IS PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE AGAINST SERIOUS ILLNESS AND HOSPITALIZATION. DEATHS AMONG THE VACCINATED ARE MASSIVELY REDUCED.
• GET YOUR BOOSTERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Know that unvaccinated remain a source of potential infection.  Avoiding unvaccinated persons will reduce your risk of COVID.

The updated Covid-19 boosters are cutting the risk that a person will get sick from the coronavirus by about half, even against infections caused by the rapidly spreading XBB.1.5 subvariant.

New studies, conducted by researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are among the first looks at how the bivalent boosters have continued to work in the real world as the virus has evolved.

The data shows that the boosters are continuing to offer substantial protection against currently circulating variants.

Read more here. . . .

After you received your COVID vaccinations, please let us know!

We would like to document this information into your chart.



BUT FIRST.......

PLEASE COMPLETE THE INFORMATION ON THE CARD BEFORE YOU SEND IT TO US!

What we need:

1. Your name
2. Date vaccination received
3. Brand name
4. Lot number if available
5. Which dose you have received

**Email your COVID vaccine completed info HERE

An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday raised doubts about shifting toward a yearly Covid booster for most adults and children, saying too many questions about the virus still remain unanswered. 

The FDA convened its Vaccine and Related Biology Products Advisory Committee to discuss how the Covid vaccines may change moving forward.

On Monday, the agency published briefing documents proposing annual Covid shots that target the latest variants of the virus — an approach similar to the yearly flu shot.

But during Thursday’s meeting, several members of the committee said they felt apprehensive about making any decisions about when the vaccines are administered, given that the virus is still so new. 

Unlike the flu, which flourishes in the winter months, Covid’s spread has often been erratic, consistently mutating into new variants and failing to settle into a predictable seasonal pattern. A common refrain at the meeting was that Covid was not like the flu.



“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Dr. Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. “It’s hard to say that it is going to be annual at this point.”

Read more here. . . . .

At our office, we are continuing to follow CDC guidelines and will strive for ways to keep our patients and staff safe.



We recommend that all unvaccinated and vaccinated patients and visitors entering our office cover their nose and mouth at all times.

To prevent further spread of the Delta & Omicron variants, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance on March 21, 2022, to recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks when in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of Covid-19.

We have a limited supply of paper masks and will make these available to patients while they last, however, we encourage you to bring your own facial covering.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is talking to airlines about the possibility of testing for the coronavirus in sewage from planes, the federal agency told NBC News.

Since September 2021, the CDC has been testing international travelers for Covid on a volunteer basis via nasal swabs. The program now includes seven major airports. Expanding that surveillance to include wastewater could allow the CDC to collect more data about emerging variants.

The U.S. has been monitoring for the coronavirus in wastewater since the CDC launched its National Wastewater Surveillance System in September 2020. But that testing mainly involves wastewater from households or buildings, not samples from airports or planes.

Read more here. . . .

'The Queen's Gambit'

In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom in the world of master chess players.

Watch the nail-biting final scene and chess match of The Queen's Gambit, starring the inimitable Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon.

Warning: Spoilers! When winning takes everything, what are you left with? It's the show everyone's obsessed with: The Queen’s Gambit follows a young chess prodigy’s rise from an orphanage to the world stage. But genius comes with a cost.

Let's Play!